Wednesday, June 6, 2007

UT Dallas delays dormitory hall construction, but it will likely suck regardless

By Chad Jones

UT Dallas's plan to construct a residence hall (read: dormitory) and dining facility (read: cafeteria) has been pushed back another year.

Aimed to offer an alternative to the campus' apartment complex, Waterview apartments, the dorms were initially slated for completion in 2008. However, experts are now looking to finish by Spring 2009, while the facility's first horde of residents (read: guinea pig freshmen) are scheduled to move in Fall of 2009.

Apparently, the project has been delayed "to allow more time to decide what features to include in the design," says Matthew Grief, director of housing operations, to the UTD Mercury.

As of now, the initial design will accommodate roughly 400 students. Each occupant will have their own living space, and each unit could include a common dining area, living area and bathroom with individual sinks.

"It's basically an apartment without a kitchen," Grief tells the Mercury, but also suggests that "students can expect to pay slightly more than they would in [the] Waterview [apartments]."

Well, that's great news. As a former Waterview resident (who moved out last weekend) and current UTD student, I can verify that my crummy, cracked, grimy, micro-waveless, gloomy two-bedroom apartment—with its illustrious view of a parking lot, its poop-smelling bathroom water and its complete absence of any electric light in the living room—was not overpriced at all, and I would gladly pay more than $435 a month (technically now $500 after a ten-percent hike) for a chance to live in a smaller and more expensive place that doesn't even have its own kitchen. Good, Grief.

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